A Moonlit Night - The Complete Saga Read online

  The alpha werewolf was a mighty beast, easily twice the size of his companion. Warm air puffed from his snout, heating up the cool night breeze; smoking in the wind as he stared down his watchful prey.

  He let out a terrifying howl, causing the very ground below to tremor; the vibrations shaking Xander and Samuel to their very core. Motioning to his last pack mate, the alpha sent the younger wolf towards the house.

  “You must get to Emily!” shouted Xander, turning towards Samuel. “If she dies, so do you!”

  Samuel didn’t care for Xander’s tone, and wouldn’t forget that he was moments away from finishing Xander off before the wolves came; but the vampire was right, he took an oath to protect those that couldn’t protect themselves. With regret in his eyes, he left the battle and hurried after the werewolf.

  The alpha began kicking up his hind legs, throwing clumps of grass and dirt high in the air. Gripping his hind paws firmly into the earth, the werewolf lifted off the ground with his front and rose.

  Standing on his feet, the werewolf began to transform. The alpha’s bones snapped and skin contorted; and soon, what once was an image sent forth from hell itself, was now the image of the divine, fallen from the heavens below.

  The alpha was a mountain of a man, standing at least a foot taller than Xander and equally as wide. Looking more in tune with a Greek god, he stood out from the rest of the pack; a Samoan warrior with the zeal of war burning deeply in his eyes.

  They charged towards one another, vampire and werewolf in a fight to the death. The alpha threw a fierce haymaker, which Xander narrowly avoided, dropping to his knees as he careened past the monstrous man.

  Stopping in his tracks, the alpha spun around with his arm extended, cracking Xander in the back of the head with his rigid knuckles. They imprinted into Xander’s head, and with the sound of bone shattering he dropped to the floor in excruciating pain.

  “When I was told that the summoner would be here, Amata never mentioned that there would be a vampire present,” the alpha said. “You’ve killed my entire pack. They were both my friends and family! I’m going to enjoy watching you suffer, you undead piece of shit!”

  The werewolf’s large foot came slamming down on Xander’s chest cavity, his hefty weight crushing Xander into submission.

  “Amata... you can’t trust her,” choked Xander, gasping for air as his lungs started to fold.

  “Of course, she’s a vampire,” the alpha replied. “None of you undead freaks has an ounce of loyalty; but I’m one for very few words, so now it’s time to die, Mr. Vampire!”

  The alpha lifted his gigantic foot high into the air, and as he drove his foot downwards, Xander managed to find the strength to roll out of harm’s way.

  “I’m never going to let you succeed,” said Xander, quickly picking himself up; refusing the alpha the satisfaction of seeing him suffer. “The summoner will not fail… not today!”

  Barring his fangs, Xander charged ferociously towards his much larger aggressor. He wasn’t about to survive this far, only to fall to a filthy dog. No, he had much bigger plans, and they all involved him living through the night.

  Inside the house, things were finally starting to calm down for Emily and her friends. She had locked Tyler in one of the upstairs rooms, keeping guard over her fallen brother. She should have stayed with them, but something was calling out to her to head down the stairs and towards fate.

  Her feet inched closer to the front door, slowly shuffling to the inevitable. Every fiber in Emily’s body urged her to stop, back away and run. Still, she continued on, willing to be a spectator in the battle for her life no longer.

  As she neared the door, the window beside it shattered open, sending glass flying in Emily’s direction as a werewolf barreled through the window. The fragments of glass sliced through her skin effortlessly, sending the werewolf into a bloody frenzy.

  Panicking, Emily darted out of the hallway and into the bathroom. Her hands glided over the metal lock, hoping that would hold the werewolf at bay. Placing her back to the door, she braced herself as the door began to shake violently. It pounded and pounded away at the door, each shockwave sending shivers down her spine.

  And suddenly, just as it began, the shaking ceased. Slowly, Emily moved from behind the door and waited patiently for the sound of paws to scurry away.

  The werewolf didn’t leave. Drawing a large claw, he lifted his front paws up and ran the nail sharply down the door, sending a bone-chilling message to Emily, stuck inside the bathroom.

  And then, without warning, the werewolf trailed off, his scent taking him to greener pastures.

  “No, no, no,” panicked Emily, dropping to her knees as she watched the werewolf’s grotesque paws scamper away from underneath the door. She knew exactly where the demonic hound was going, upstairs where a frightened Tyler was keeping vigil over her unconscious brother.

  It took every ounce of strength she had, but Emily unlocked the bathroom door and placed her hand on the knob. The cold brass washed over her fingers as she thrust the door open, and stood defiantly against her menacing attacker.

  Emily told herself she wasn’t going to keep watching, as her friends and family risked their life for her. She had powers; powers that everyone seemed to fair. While she still couldn’t control her abilities, Emily knew that was the key in all of this. And right now, she could feel those powers soaring within her.

  Higher and higher the energy started to build inside Emily, the warm stream of power caressing every fiber of her body as it shot out from her mouth and eyes. The room lit up with strands of white light, skipping and flowing as they danced around the room.

  Startled, the werewolf let loose a low rumble as he charged ferociously towards Emily. He ran full bore, cutting through the living room with terrifying speed and aggressiveness.

  Instead of a scared little girl, Emily stood her ground, a powerful woman with limitless potential. Holding her arms out, she unleashed all of her rage. With a triumphant roar, a shining white stream of energy shot out from her hands.

  Unlike the first time, Emily was in control. She could sense thousands of creatures, all calling her for to give them life; and give them life she did, sending forth a hulking rhino, transparent and gleaming with the same white luminescent light swirling all over Emily’s body.

  The werewolf stopped in his tracks, throwing his paws out in front of him as he dug deep into the floor. With no time to reverse his course, the once frightening wolf was now wide-eyed with a sense of panic running through his entire body.

  Emily actually enjoyed watching, as the creatures that had been terrorizing her received what was coming to them. She was not a hate filled person, but when it came to her friends and family, she was a fierce protector; or at least, she always wanted to be.

  The summoned rhino enveloped the werewolf in the same blinding white light, tearing him apart with vicious swipes of his horn. Helpless, the werewolf shrieked in agony, his pain echoing throughout the cottage home. The rhino disappeared, sending the werewolf crashing to the ground, already dead and smoldering from burns covering his singed body.

  “W—what are you?” asked Samuel, standing behind Emily outside the opened front door.

  Emily’s eyes returned back to their natural state, her milky gaze turning towards Samuel as she readjusted her focus back on the situation at hand.

  “What are you staring at me for?” asked Emily, motioning to the door. “Xander needs you!”

  Meanwhile, Xander and the alpha werewolf were wrestling on the ground, grappling at one another ferociously as they battled for dominance.

  “It’s hopeless, vampire!” shouted the alpha, pinning Xander’s arms as he dug in deep with his razor-sharp fingernails. “I can hear your heart racing… you know it, too; the end is near.”

  Xander responded with a cool smile, the crook in his mouth sending the alpha into a snarling rage. Still, he continued to smile; his eyes wandering past the werewolf and up into the night sky.
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  “What do you find so funny, dead man?” asked the alpha, drawing closer to Xander’s head.

  “In over 500 years, I never thought I would see the day,” replied Xander, letting his body go limp, and the werewolf tear into his skin with no resistance.

  With a disgusted look in his eyes, the alpha barred his teeth, and said, “I’m going to eat your heart while you watch, defenseless and afraid. I’m going to enjoy watching you suffer. When I’m done, your girl is going to suffer. We have big plans for her.”

  “N—no,” stuttered Xander, the heavy wolf pressing down on his chest, constricting his breathing. “In over 500 years… I never thought I’d see… a vampire hunting saving the life of a vampire.”

  The alpha tilted his head inquisitively, unable to see the attack coming for him. He howled out in pain as a sharp dagger tore through his skin and into his belly. Writhing on the ground, he rolled off Xander, desperate to remove the blade lodged into his gut.

  “Wow,” grinned Samuel, standing over Xander triumphantly. “In over 35 years, I never thought I would see a werewolf beat down a vampire.”

  Xander was bloodied and barely able to move, but he laughed. The first time he had laughed in a long time, he thought to himself. They may have been enemies by blood, but he couldn’t bring himself to hate the vampire hunter; and if it wasn’t for the man’s occupation, he could even see the two of them becoming friends.

  Samuel eventually extended a hand, helping Xander to his feet. He looked over to the country home, noticing that Emily had exited the home with her friend Tyler. Together they were carrying the now semi-conscious Steven over towards the battle scene.

  “Who sent you, werewolf?” asked Xander, his skin slowly healing as he stood over the werewolf, bleeding out on the grass. “Who sent you?”

  Xander kicked the alpha werewolf viciously in the ribs; the sound of bone snapping rang out through the night as the werewolf cried out in misery. He could have taken the high road, and let the devilish hound die in peace, but he had questions that needed answering; and the one thing that a werewolf understands is pain.

  “I—it matters not if you know the truth… the end will soon be upon you,” choked the alpha, blood spewing out his mouth as he spoke. “Amata Gemeti sent me.”

  “Who the hell is Amata Gemeti?” Samuel asked.

  The alpha let loose a low rumble, his throaty laughter carrying across the property. They all looked nervously at one another, awaiting the alpha’s answer.

  “He asked you a question, beast,” said Emily, barging past Samuel as she joined Xander overtop the dying monster.

  “Why don’t you ask your vampire bedfellow?” asked the werewolf, his eyes turning towards Xander. “She has bigger plans than you could possibly imagine. They may begin with your precious little summoner, but they do not end there.”

  “What is he talking about, Xander?” Emily asked. “I don’t understand.”

  Xander ignored Emily’s question, his mind wrapped firmly around the alpha’s dire words of warning. His friends may have had no idea who Amata Gemeti was, but that was a luxury Xander did not have. For the first time in his second life, he was afraid.

  “Xander, are you listening to me?” inquired Emily, pulling on his tattered shirt. “Who is Amata Gemeti—?”

  “You’re working with a vampire?” asked Xander, interrupting Emily with questions of his own. He didn’t mean to be discourteous to the woman he cared so deeply for, but the grave situation weighed heavily on his mind. “The paranormal races haven’t united since the last culling. You realize what you’re saying?”

  “Oh… I realize exactly what this means,” replied the alpha, gasping for air as he spoke his last words. “Dark times are coming for the people of this world. We should have taken our rightful place as rulers of this world, millennia ago. Amata will give us that opportunity.”

  The werewolf continued to laugh, his hoarse voice sending a unsettling reminder of the gravity of the situation.

  Xander grabbed one of the swords lying on the ground, his cold hands wrapping firmly around the hilt of the blade. The cutting edge of the sword dragged along the grass, closing in on the alpha panting and wheezing on the ground.

  “Do you have any last words, werewolf?” asked Xander, hoisting the sword high in the air. The steel gleamed in the moonlight, shining down on the wounded wolf.

  “Enjoy this moment, vampire,” the alpha snickered. “For what’s in store for you shall be a fate far worse than mine.”

  The sword came crashing down, severing the werewolf’s head from his body. Even as his head rolled, his face continued to laugh, the contortions of his face slapping together in the absence of vocal chords.

  Turning towards Emily, Xander wasted no time moving to the next matter at hand, Emily’s safety. With a sadness that encased his eyes, he looked at Emily, and said, “There is little time. If Amata Gemeti has united the paranormal races, than we have little time.”

  Xander grabbed hold of Emily’s arm, but she pushed him away sharply. It had been a gruesome ordeal and Emily was finally started to grow into the woman she was meant to be. A woman that her mother would be proud of; and she remembered her mother’s warning, burning a fire deep in her heart.

  “No,” Emily said. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  “You will if you want to live,” Xander replied, his stern words a forewarning of the danger that Amata would be unleashing upon her and everyone she cared for.

  “Then you better start by answering some questions,” Emily said. “I am the summoner, and my powers are growing. And unless you want those powers directed at you, you will answer my questions. My mother warned me about you… prove her wrong.”

  “Anything, if it gets you far away from here,” replied Xander, gritting his teeth. He didn’t like the idea of sharing the horrors the past, but if it meant saving the summoner’s life, than he had little choice in the matter.

  “Good,” Emily said. “Then let’s start at the beginning.”

  Chapter Seven

  It is said that the summoners were the first paranormal race, created in a time when humans still lived in painted caves. They lived amongst the people of the land in perfect harmony with their environment. Ageless and born with limitless power, they were seen as gods by the fledgling human race. Your mother was one of those people.

  The bright sun washed over Amanda, her fingers running through her dripping wet hair as she lifted herself out of the mountain oasis and looked down on the valley below. Flourishing green foliage swathed the area, their beauty matched only by the sparkling ocean in the distance.

  “Every day you come here,” said a man, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Have you not seen all that you wish to see?”

  Amanda smiled, turning her head to gaze upon the man she loved. They had been together for thousands of years now, their love burning through the ages. She grabbed hold of his hand, and said, “I hope that day never comes, Lars.”

  The summoners were unsatisfied with merely living among the humans that inhabited the land. The desired more for themselves and more for the world they so genuinely loved. And so, they began construction of a temple, where they could channel all their power.

  “Come on, you just have to see it,” Lars grinned. “We’re almost there!”

  Rushing through the dense plant life with their hands entwined, they approached an entrance of a cavern. Lars tugged on Amanda’s hand, asking her to go forward with him.

  “It’s… so dark,” Amanda mumbled. “You know how much I detest the dark. Are you sure you want to go down there?”

  “What are you so afraid of?” Lars asked. “The temple needs to be kept hidden, far away from curious eyes.”

  Emily trusted Lars, and knew she would always be safe with him. They made their way down the narrow path, going lower and lower into the ancient mountain.

  “What temple?” Emily asked. “And why does it need to be kept hidden?”

  “The
Temple of Prometheus,” replied Lars, as they came to the end of the constricted tunnel. “And this holy place is a shrine to our people, built from powers that must never be claimed by those impure of heart.”

  Amanda looked on in awe, for the Temple of Prometheus was the most beautiful thing she had ever laid eyes on. With sweeping roofs and pillars on every corner, not a single stone had been transported, instead being created from illimitable imagination; the entire structure intricately carved out of large limestone deposit. The temple’s majesty was unparalleled, their boundless power radiating from its design. It could have been considered the first wonder of the world, if any human eyes had ever laid eyes on it.

  In the Temple of Prometheus, the summoners breathed life into not just one species, but many different forms of life, all unique in their own glorious way. Of course, the summoners couldn’t have guessed the horror they would have unleashed upon the world. The summoners thought they were creating something beautiful, but instead, horrifying monsters emerged, creatures of the night. The fiend’s sprang forth, a plague upon the world. The summoners mourned for their children, but refused to end their existence. From whatever evil dimension they may have came from, the summoners could not bring themselves to destroy their creations.